Use the Construction PSM to split drive
pavements. String labeling is unrestricted
since these strings will only be used in the next step as a source for point selections.

Be careful to contain skew drive center lines
within the limits of the existing ground triangulation. This
consideration reduces the chance of obtaining null section point
elevations. Null elevations are not friendly to draw. Therefore,
it is recommended that you display the project's existing ground triangles.

If the skewed drive construction lines do not ultimately cross the
Master Alignment, then MX tends to error when it comes time to process the
"Skewed Station (by) 2 points" option (Step to follow). If the strings generated
for skewed drives in Drive Preparation already cross the Master Alignment, then
advance to Step #2 of the Skew Drive Preparation.

Using the just created construction drive center lines
for reference, recreate new drive center lines again but this
time construct each line past the proposed roadway's Master Alignment string.
Use the following command;

Use the Construction PSM to extend each line.
As before, string labeling
is unrestricted since these strings will only be used for future point
selections.

Measure the plan distance along each
skewed drive center line from it's intersection with the Master Alignment to it's
intersection with the proposed edge of pavement. Note these values for future use.

Stations for each skewed driveway must
be added to the Master Alignment string for the normal portion of each skewed
drive. Use the following command;

Modify > Edit Point > Interpolate a
Point Onto a String

Use the Intersection PSM to interpolate new stations where
the skewed center line crosses
the proposed edge of pavement. MX will determine the closest
position on the alignment to the intersection specified, despite the obvious
offset. This interpolated position will be the
station of the normal portion of each skewed drive. Note these stations for future use.

Step #3 is necessary because the portion of a skewed drive section within the
proposed pavement limits is perpendicular (normal) to the proposed
alignment, and the skew proper commences outside the pavement limits.
The two
parts of a skewed section will later be married together in MicroStation.
Refer to the 17+81 sample cross section in the Construction Plans of the
Highway Design Manual.

The XSDetail Add-In

Prior to cutting cross sections, run the XSDetail
Add-In to capture detail features such as trees, utility poles and drainage
pipes. This results in a model that will be cut in addition to various
existing and design models.

Cross Sections are generated and may be
displayed with the Cross Section Viewer. This can be found from
within MX by selecting Analysis -> Sections -> Create Cross
Sections...
The Cross Section Viewer
has a toolbar for options available with in the Viewer, a graphics area in
which the sections are displayed, and a station selector for navigating to
other sections.
Hit the
button to bring up the panel shown below (the tooltip for this button will say
"Create New Cross Sections").

Specify the Reference
Model, Reference String and Model to Store Sections. Verify that the section model defaults
are set to the XSU.PSS style set and the XSU.FNS feature set. Similar to any of MXROAD
options, you must ensure that you assign the correct style and feature
sets to your models. These model defaults affect relevant panels in
MX, allowing appropriate string identification and selection.

Check the Section Additional Models box
and the Limit or Add
Section Locations box. Hit the Next button to advance to the Section
Additional Models panel shown below.

On the Section Additional Models
panel, select each model containing data needed for your sections. A
model may be selected more than once to accommodate for multiple section
sets. Set the Description, Mask, SINT, and Offsets for every
selected model. Refer to the following table for the recommended entries:

Cross Section Item

Model

Description

Mask

SINT

Offset Left

Offset Right

Design Surface

Design

Design

Design Tria

OFF

*

*

Existing Surface

Triangulation

Existing Ground

NONE

OFF

*

*

Old Ground Elevation

Design

OG Elevation

XS Old Ground

OFF

*

*

Sill Left

Topo

Sill Left

Building Sill

OFF

*

0

Sill Right

Topo

Sill Right

Building Sill

OFF

0

*

ROW

ERW

ROW

NONE

OFF

*

*

Environment

ENV

Environment

NONE

OFF

*

*

Trees,
Poles, Hydrants...

XS
DETAIL MCxx

Detail
Features

NONE

OFF

*

*

Crossing
Drainage Pipes

XS
DETAIL MCxx

Drainage
Pipes

xs pipe

OFF

*

*

* Default Offset values may need to be
increased. Always section more than you plan to draw.

Setting the Description will assign
the appropriate section set label to the strings being cut. These section sets are automatically drawn by the XS-MS macro. Since only one description may
be used at a time, consider correcting another model's description to make a particular choice available.

If the XSDetail add-in is able to determine that a pipe
crossed the reference alignment, then it is given a different string label from the
rest of the detail and will be plotted differently. Refer to Adding Details to Cross Sections
for more information about XSDetail.

Right-of-Way and Environmental lines that originated in MicroStation will
need elevations attached. This is done with the
NHDraper program. See its documentation
for more details.

In the Mask section you should specify the
appropriate mask table, see String Masking for more explanation of Mask tables.

SINT (Secondary INTerpolation) should be turned
OFF for all recommended section sets. Other circumstances may require SINT.

It is necessary to set the Building
Sill Offsets to zero on one side to filter out the opposite sides buildings.

The last panel "Section Location", will
allow you to control which locations you want to cut. There are options to
cut sections at a constant interval, at a specific station such as a drive or
intersection, as well as two options to create skewed sections. Use the
"Add" button to build a
list of exactly what you want created.

Feature strings such as Buildings, ROW, or
Environmental items are sectioned at the specified stations, and may not
represent the closest point to the reference line.

Build entries for each skewed drive with
the "Skewed Station 2 Points" option. Supply both ends of
each drive construction center line that was created in Step #2 of the
"Drive Section Preparation" section.

Be careful to contain skew drive center
lines within the limits of the existing ground triangulation.
This consideration reduces the chance of obtaining null section point
elevations. Null elevations are not friendly to draw in either
profile or section.
Therefore, it is recommended to display the project's existing ground
triangles.

Build entries for the normal portion of
each skewed drive with the "Special Station" option. Supply
the station of the normal portion of each skewed drive that was
interpolated in Step #3 of the Skewed Drive Preparation
section.

Make a strong attempt to identify all areas where
a drive or walk might be. It is easier to delete a drive (for instance) then to
move all your sections from sheet to sheet and allow for one which was not
anticipated. To save the sectioning criteria for future iterations, select the
Save Set-up... button.

Once all the desired section locations are
defined, select "Finish" to begin the section generation. A successful
process will usually return you to the Cross Section Viewer. In the case
of a "run time error", don't fret, it just means that the Cross
Section Viewer has crashed, your sections should have been cut
successfully. The Cross Section
Viewer provides a limited view of the new sections, therefore it is recommended
to close down the Viewer.

Skewed Sections in MicroStation

For the skewed portion of skewed drives, use
MicroStation tools of your choice to delete all parts of the section within
the proposed pavement extents. Take note that because these sections are
skewed, the proposed pavement widths increase with skew angle.

For the normal portion of skewed drives, use MicroStation tools of your choice
to delete all parts of the section outside the proposed pavement extents on
the drive side of each skewed drive.

Use Move Element to move the skew portion of each skewed drive to
it's corresponding normal portion. Use the "Keypoint" snap and
insure that you grab and drop the elements at their ends.

Label the skew portions and identify whether the skew projects ahead or behind.

Now
that the skew portion of skewed drives have been joined to the corresponding
normal portions, delete any remains of the abandoned skewed sections.